Best High Schools in Zip Code 28384

Zip code 28384 is served by a single public high school, Saint Pauls High, which enrolls 1,142 students in grades 9–12. This means the area's high school story is really a profile of one school and its community. Saint Pauls High belongs to the Public Schools of Robeson County, a district ranked in the bottom quarter of North Carolina districts. The school itself has earned a 2-star rating and sits near the 32nd percentile statewide, so it outperforms its district's overall reputation but remains in the lower half of high schools across the state.

The school's clearest strength is its graduation rate: 94.3% for 2025–26, which is about 5.5 points above the state average of 88.8%. Yet test scores tell a more complicated story. In 2025–26, Math I proficiency collapsed to just 12.5%, a dramatic drop from 30.5% the year before, while both the district and state improved. This is the largest red flag in the data. English II proficiency was 48.5% — better than the previous year but still about 16 points behind the state. On a more positive note, the school showed strong year-over-year gains in Biology (49.2%), English II (48.5%), and Math III (67.3%), with Biology outpacing the district in both years. About 35.9% of students are chronically absent, which is better than the district's 42.1% but still well above the state's 24.2%. Nearly all students (99.74%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, highlighting the economic challenges facing the community.

For parents, the bottom line is that Saint Pauls High graduates a high percentage of its students, but many may not be fully prepared in core subjects like Math I. The gap between a 94.3% graduation rate and 12.5% Math I proficiency suggests that finishing school and mastering grade-level material are not always the same. The school is improving in several areas, especially science and advanced math, but the sharp decline in Math I demands urgent attention. Chronic absenteeism affects more than one in three students and likely contributes to the academic struggles. Overall, this is a school with genuine strengths, particularly its graduation rate and recent improvements, but also significant challenges that parents should investigate closely.